Life's What Ben Makes It?
by A Catholic Girl
Summary: Ben thinks about how much his niece Andrea had to go through without a mother and how he affected her life. A counterpiece oneshot to In a Woman's Eyes and its sequel.


**Just a little oneshot that came to me while I was studying for my math final. Ah, the odd moments in which inspiration can come! Anyways, this is a counterpiece to _In a Woman's Eyes_, which features Andrea Morrison. If you haven't read that, you should, because you might understand this more. I thought that my only other NT story would be the sequel to IWE, but I guess I was wrong :) Enjoy!**

* * *

Ben Gates never noticed how much his niece had suffered until she finally graduated from high school. Andrea Morrison was his sister's child, and practically Abigail Gates reincarnated. Both loved life, and both loved their families so dearly that they could even bear the public humiliations the men in the Gates brood received for strongly believing in the Templar Treasure. Abigail, however, was much more closed off to people, whilst Andrea boldly socialized with every person in the room, even if she hated their guts.

Andrea had legally been his since she was six months, after both of her parents were killed in a car incident. The girl grew without the influence of a female – Ben was both her mother and her father. He learned to cook properly for her, and soon obtained the patience to sit through countless Disney movies with her. These were the motherly traits he gained by raising his sister's daughter.

Ben's fatherly traits were more dominant. He taught his niece how to throw a curveball. He guided her in riding a two-wheeler. He told her the story of the Templar Treasure when she was only four years old, and from that time on, it was the bedtime tale Andrea begged for each night up until she turned ten years old, and "too old for Uncle Ben to tell her a story every night", as she said herself

Andrea wasn't aware of it until her teenage years, but there were often times in which she _needed _a mother. There was the Mothers' Day Tea in kindergarten. When Andrea came home from school with the notice informing parents about it, Ben actually considered keeping his niece out of school for the day the tea was scheduled for. But he knew that running away from the things he just couldn't accomplish wouldn't help him or Andrea. He attended the tea just for her. He was the only grown male in the classroom, and broke one of the miniscule, plastic chairs when he sat upon it. The mothers of Andrea's classmates looked at him with bewilderment, while Andrea and her friends found it hilarious that the chair had collapsed. Ben was more than thankful that Andrea was too young at the time to become mortally embarrassed of him.

There were the puberty and sex talks. Ben was aware that these topics were covered in health class at school, but he knew from experience that the discussions were shorter and less detailed than how a parent would deliver the basics to their child. Andrea was twelve at this time. She knew all that was needed to know, but a guardian's talk of puberty was mandatory in a child's life. Ben checked a book out of the library about the female body so he could get every single fact as straight and G-rated as possible. He couldn't just duplicate the speech his own father had made to him when he was Andrea's age. Ben was a male, and she a female. Each gender had their own speech. After several attempts to try and talk about the body with Andrea, his niece finally declared that she'd just call up her grandmother and talk with her about puberty.

Once again, Ben was grateful of Andrea's decision, but slightly disappointed with himself that he could not succeed at this…

He wasn't surprised when his niece took a sudden disliking to Abigail Chase when they met her after returning from the Artic Circle the summer Andrea graduated from high school. Ben had had few women significant in his personal life, and Andrea wasn't used to the lack of attention and love she was receiving when Abigail joined she, Ben, and Riley Poole on the hunt for the Templar Treasure. It was then when Ben knew that he should had sacrificed more for Andrea, and stayed in a relationship with one of those women long enough so Andrea could get used to her. But he couldn't describe how proud and shocked he was when he learned that Andrea told Abigail herself that she approved of her, and had witnessed how happy Abigail made Ben.

After the summer in which the Templar Treasure was found, Andrea and Ben no longer lived in the same house. Ben moved into a new estate on the edges of Washington, D.C with Abigail, while Andrea became the new owner of the pair's old apartment. Another treasure hunt came and went, only one thing from it changing their lives. Before officially going out onto this hunt, Ben had proposed to Abigail, and she had accepted.

They were married a year after the second treasure hunt, in July of 2008. Andrea was her new aunt's maid of honor, while Riley stood in as the best man. At the reception following the wedding ceremony, Ben watched his niece dance with Riley. He was silent for some time, but then snuck up behind his bride, who quickly ended her conservation with some old college friends when she saw Ben approach.

"Hi, you," Abigail mused giggly, as Ben wrapped his arms around her. "What's on your mind?"

Ben tore his eyes apart from his niece long enough to stare at her lovingly. "Why couldn't you have come into my life twenty-two years earlier?"

Abigail quizzically raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You're now technically the mother Andrea never had…if you had been with me when her parents died and she became mine…life would have been a whole lot simpler."

She laughed. "You're over exaggerating, Ben."

"Am I? You weren't there to hear Andrea cry herself to sleep some nights because she had cramps and didn't have a mother to talk about them with. You weren't there to see her go prom dress shopping with herself, because she didn't want me to go through the boredom of the whole thing. I still wonder sometimes if she'd be better off today if her parents survived that car crash."

"Ben," Abigail said firmly. "Stop that, now. You know that her life wouldn't be as good as it is now if her parents survived. Andrea wouldn't be as close to you as she really is…she probably wouldn't be dating Riley…she wouldn't have graduated NYU." Abigail sighed warily. "Ben, you built her life for her. She is who she is today because of you."

Ben grinned cockily. "Well, if you put it that way…I guess I did deserve some Parent-of-the-Year awards at a point…"

"Once again," Abigail laughed. "You're over exaggerating."

Ben laughed too. He held out his hand to her. "Shall we dance?"

She nodded eagerly. The two walked out to the dance floor together, beaming broadly. As they wrapped their arms around each other for a slow, love song, Ben peered over Abigail's shoulder to gaze at Andrea. She was laughing at something Riley had said, and Ben smiled when he noticed that his niece had discarded of her mandatory high heels and was dancing in only her stocking feet. Ben had a fleeting flashback of four-year-old Andrea; when she cried when she had to wear white tights and a pink, frilly dress for her grandfather's birthday festivities.

Maybe Abigail was right. You only got one shot at turning your life into something, but Andrea could have a completely different life if her parents were still alive. But if that had happened…she just wouldn't be Andrea. The Andrea Ben knew was bold, stubborn, and outspoken. The Andrea she could have been because of growing up with her parents would be sheltered, quiet, and shy.

Life was what you made it. But in case…Andrea's life was that Ben and fate had made for her. She was only a baby when her life changed…from something that she just lived…to a life in which she had so much more. And that was final.

* * *

**For Andrea's image, you can visit my profile page. Also on my page is a poll on what kind of romances to include to the IWE sequel. If you haven't voted in that, feel free to! Also on my page, I have a little, mini-summary of the sequel! **

**Please leave a review!**


End file.
